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This is the larva of the moth that lives in the heart of the agave plant. When that larva isn’t busy in the agave plant becoming a moth then it is sold as a tasty snack. Which is how it ended up drowned in a bottle of mezcal. One helpful thing to remember is that tequila is a type of mezcal, but mezcal is not a type of tequila. At the time of this writing, mezcal can only be produced in eight states.

Milagro bottles are instantly recognizable—tall, sleek, modern, and completely different from any other tequila presentation out there. The liquid within is soft and slightly floral with notes of sweet and spice. In addition to the core lineup, there’s also the Select Barrel Reserve range, which is aged in both French and American oak and comes in silver, reposado, and añejo expressions. A diffuser is basically a giant machine that extracts sugar using hot water . Don Julio’s distillery uses Highland agaves, steam-cooked for 72 hours. The aquamiel, or honey water, is then collected from the crushed, cooked agave.

Every start-up Brand includes sample bottles so you can go out and start marketing your product with distributors, restaurants & retail clients. Taxes will be paid based on State & Federal requirements based on the quantity of samples. We typically recommend 4-6 Sample bottles, any leftover products can be applied to your first order. “You’re not going to find flavors of wood burning or cigarette smoke in mezcal. It’s more about flavors like dry chiles, chipotle, some roasted bell pepper, leather, roasted coffee beans,” Ranzuglia notes.

It’s said each vintage produces tequila with aroma, flavor, and character unique to that year and that particular agave field. In fact, the Aztecs were fermenting agave, the main ingredient in true tequila, all the way back in 1000 BC. Tequila makers must abide a specific set of guidelines, dictating what the tequila is made from and even where it’s made.

Likewise, making agave spirits in the U.S. requires a source of mature agave, which means either planting your own agave and waiting years for it to mature, or sourcing it from abroad. Tequila production likewise requires special equipment for stripping, milling and separating juice from pulp, none of which is present in your average American distillery. All in all, it makes producing American-made agave spirits something of a high hurdle to clear, with significant start-up costs. And every year brings more converts who realize that well-made tequila has countless applications beyond the obligatory margarita. While not all varieties are, this perception comes from its different distillation processes. While the process of makingtequila means steaming the agave, mezcal is made by roasting it.

Hence, it can also be said that it is a particular type of mescal. The blue agave plant grows primarily around the city of Tequila, Mexico. Hence, most tequila distilleries are located in the surrounding area.

What Is The Smoothest Mezcal?

According to Swanson, Bozal Sacatoro is her newest obsession. “Sacatoro is a very close relative to Espadin, so its flavors are familiar yet also new and exciting.” “The proximity to the coastal towns provides a high mineralogy in this ensemble, leaving us with a high energy spirit, dry and rich mineral palate with a wood spice finish, hickory, and cinnamon,” Jimenez said.

By Mexican law all 100% agave or aged Tequila must be bottled in Mexico. If a Tequila is 100 percent agave it will always say so on the bottle label. If it doesnt say 100% it is a mixto, although that term is seldom used on bottle labels.

Mezcal Mule

Both spirits use the heart of agave plants, the piñas. For Tequila, the piñas get steamed in ovens and then distilled in copper pots. For Mezcal, the Mezcaleros roast the agave cores in underground pits for several days. This traditional method makes for the smoky flavor Mezcal is famous for. Afterward, the piñas are milled on a tahona, often powered by mules.

The Differences Between Tequila And Mezcal, Explained

If you are interested in trying a shot of tequila and mezcal to see which you like best, he will definitely help you out with that. He’ll even let you eat the worm, if you’re deemed worthy and can handle the superpowers. It’s important to support Mexican made Do CBD Gummies help with pain? and owned brands not only to maintain the health of local economies but for the quality. As the spirit has become popular in the U.S., large brands and people with no connection to the land or its people have been trying to market indifferently-made versions.

The Mexican government contended that tequila is a cultural product that should only bear that name if distilled from the blue agave plant indigenous to a specific climatic region of Mexico. Most agree that this is the case, and in 2002, UNESCO recognized the Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila Highline Wellness CBD Gummies as a World Heritage Site. If you go, besides seeing how tequila is made, there are many other interesting things to do in tequila country. Well, technically speaking, all Tequila is Mezcal, but not all Mezcal is Tequila. Mezcal however, can be made from over 30 different varieties of agave, including blue agave.

In addition, they are also consumed differently, with mezcal being traditionally consumed straight with chili salt and an orange slice and tequila being served straight or mixed into a cocktail. Now this doesn’t begin to address taste and desirability of your distlllate as you should also be aware of methanol and higher congeners that should be carefully controlled in the fermentation . Also these undesirable congeners and poison alcohols can be controlled by controlling the percentage of complex carbs and sugar oligosaccharides in the cooked / digested pina’s before fermentation.

I think that we might start seeing more tequilas that try to emulate process-wise the traditions of mezcal. This episode of Agave Road Trip is also brought to you in part byJUST Egg. Chef Jose Andres calls JUST Egg “mind-blowing” and Bon Appetit says it’s “So Good I Feel Guilty Eating It.” What I say is, Thank you, JUST Egg, for giving me back the egg-on-burger experience.

Early attempts to distill pulque were unsuccessful, as the resulting spirit was harsh and acrid. It was soon discovered, however, that cooking the agave pulp resulted in a sweeter juice which, when fermented, became known as Mezcal Wine. This “wine” was then distilled into the spirit that we know today as Mezcal.

What To Look For When Ordering Mezcal

So tequila is pretty much a type of mezcal, so it can be said that every tequila is a mezcal, but you can’t say that every mezcal is tequila. Different kinds of mezcals are made differently, that much is obvious. In the next part of this article, we’ll elaborate on that.

Does Mezcal Give You A Hangover?

Upstairs at Beauty & Essex, they figured out Ahab was chasing the wrong target. The White Whale barrel-ages El Silencio mezcal, Dolin Blanc vermouth, Cocchi Americano and apple bitters. Barreling does the neat magic trick of giving mezcal an almost Scotch-like character. Sadly, barrels don’t turn everything into Scotch, or else we’d be stuffing one full of old newspapers, loose change, and our dreams of playing centerfield for the Yankees. Ghost Donkey’s Mezcal Sun-Risa builds off Del Maguey Vida mezcal and Tequila Cabeza, adding in bitter orange, habanero and hibiscus.

The worm is a moth larva, typically called maguey worm, and lives on agave plants. These unaged spirits offer raw and elemental smoke flavors that are distinctly different from peated whisky, but compelling in their own right. There are at least 24 different types of agave used, including the Agave tequiliana Weber used in tequila production. As you would expect, much like different grapes for wine, the agave impart their own particular flavor profile dependent on the species used. Espadín is the most common agave used, but arroqueño, barril, tepextate, tobalá are becoming more available along with ensambles .

This agave provides a lighter body with a bright, sweet smell of banana and cotton candy. Sweet and bronco like the mezcals and the cultures of the Balsas basin. We recommend Mezcal Derrumbes Michoacán, excellent and thanks to cupreata its aromas oscillate between mature fruits. Small variety but with a lot of sugar, it is characteristic of the Tamaulipas region of Mexico, near Texas, United States, where it is also grown.

Tequila, on the other hand must be made from only blue agave, and must be made in one of five states. Beyond those two main distinctions, it’s primarily the traditions surrounding the production of these spirits that create the typical flavor differences between the two. There’s one other, major difference, though, that has a bigger impact on the flavor divide between tequila and mezcal, and it has to do with how the agave cores (the piña) are cooked. This produces a very different flavor, much in the way that peat-smoked barley produces a very different style of scotch whisky than those whiskies not using peated barley.

So when I say Agave Road Trip is brought to you in part by JUST Egg, what I mean is literally I am the part of Agave Road Trip that is brought to you by JUST Egg. When John is not drinking heavily, he is a Wall Street finance type and entrepreneur. He lives in Tribeca in NYCwith his stunning wife and handsome son. This episode of Agave Road Trip has also been brought to you by JUST Egg.

Best Tequilas: Blanco, Reposado, And Añejo

In fact, most tequila comes from a specific cultivar of the blue agave called the Weber Azul. The highest quality tequilas have 100% agave printed on the label – this means that no other sugars have been added. Tequila is a spirit that is made exclusively from a specific agave plant, the blue agave or Agave Tequilana Weber. It is only produced in the region of western Mexico around the town of Santiago de Tequila, Jalisco, about 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara.

I remember being very excited to try this mezcal since I really enjoy all of the other Casamigos tequila but it was a big disappointment. Casamigos Mezcal Joven is the first mezcal release from George Clooney’s renowned Tequila brand. Yet, as a growing number of sotol bottlings become available here and consumers slowly become more familiar with it, sotol is likely to find its way into the cocktail spotlight. To determine when the desired alcohol level (usually 50%, or 100 proof) has been reached, the sotolero pours some of the liquid into a cow horn, says Pico. The liquid is passed into a second horn and back again to examine the size and position of “pearls,” or tiny bubbles, that appear in the sotol.

Certified production amounts to more than 2 million liters (440,000 imp gal; 530,000 U.S. gal); 434,000 liters (95,000 imp gal; 115,000 U.S. gal) are exported, generating 21 million dollars in income. To truly be called mezcal, the liquor must come from certain areas. States that have certified mezcal agave growing areas with production facilities are Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Michoacan, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.

Mezcal is also featured in cocktails, so you may seek it out in a craft cocktail bar or mix your own. The pulp is then transferred to wooden barrels, where it’s left to ferment in the open air for 4 to 10 days. This strays from the usual, strictly-controlled conditions common to many other fermentation processes. But as mezcalero, Armando Isidro of A Medios Chiles distillery puts it, this step is one of the most important for imparting the mezcal with its unique character. The smoky aroma of mezcal pairs perfectly with a number of flavors, especially those that typically go well with tequila. Use tangy juices such as pineapple or lime to shake up your tastebuds with only a few ingredients, or dress up a simple serving of mezcal with fresh fruit like raspberries.

Tequila is made in only five specific regions in Mexico. This Mezcal is prized for its delicious combination of flavors. Often when it’s finished it will have floral or vegetal tastes with a background of spicy, dark chocolate to complement it. Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez, head bartender at mezcal & tequila barGhost Donkey, likes to start newcomers on espadin mezcals for their accessibility. Smoky, deep and enticing, mezcal is enjoying a surge in popularity in American bars right now, and with good reason.

Sniffing it, and then sniffing it on your hands and then using a small sip for clearing your palate. It’s doing that walkthrough because to me, that allows me to talk about— God, it’s really interesting you say this because I hadn’t even thought about this as a defense to my argument. But when I am walking people through it that way, nobody has ever said to me, smokey ever.

There are no exceptions—we have a scatter plot that proves it. Most tequila producers use either a roller mill or a diffuser. Is more or less a large ball of wood, the slower and longer the better. Agave for Nosotros Tequila is slow-cooked in brick ovens for sixty hours.

They Are Made Of Different Agave

You still have that classic margarita vibe with just the right amount of smoky mezcal flavor. Maestro Dobel Tequila, an 11th generation distillery, launched Humito, a smoked silver tequila. The genius behind the bottle says it’s a riff on old-school tequila production, when they used to cook agave with mesquite wood. Just like real champagne can only come from Champagne, France, and legit scotch is only made in Scotland, tequila and mezcal have regional distinctions. Oaxaca makes more than 90 percent of the world’s mezcal supply; Durango is also famous for its mezcal production.

Luckily, there are other ways to enjoy that experience—try one of our recipes that actually use chicken! And if you’re feeding a crowd, be sure to make a big batch of margaritas, too. You may want a cocktail after hearing this other piece of bad news. It is the larva of a type of moth that lives on the agave plant. Make your old fashioned new again with this unique cocktail recipe.

Oaxaca makes more than 90 percent of the world’s mezcal supply. Many people assume its the other way around, but that’s not so. So, tequila is a type of mezcal since any spirit made from agave is classified as such. Leyenda offers mezcals sourced from six different states. This blanco uses wild agave and tastes of fruit, with notes of mint and toffee.

Nearly all Mezcal comes from a species of agave called Agave Americana, as opposed to Tequila which derives from Agave Tequilana. There are also different types of Mezcal that derive from other species of agaves as well as other plants; however, those are not as common. Tequila is subject to more rigid standards than mezcal. Tequila was originally distilled from the sap and the heart of the blue agave plant. That agave was also turned into a brandy known in old Mexico as vino mezcal.

Tequila and mescal are two different types of liquors. In addition to being produced in specific regions of Mexico, tequila must be 100% agave — blue agave, to be exact. And something not many people know is that Mexico’s agave landscape is recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.Differences in the flavor come from the aging process, from blanco to extra añejo . The aging process adds depth and complexity to the spirit. For a beginner breakdown, mezcal and tequila share a relationship like whiskey/bourbon and brandy/cognac. As regulations on the production of these drinks were imposed, the precise definitions of the terms have changed somewhat over time.

Mezcal, on the other hand, had continued to be clandestinely produced all this time by indigenous people in rural areas of Mexico. Over several decades, some small commercial agaveros made their fortunes during times of severe agave shortages. With their newfound wealth, many started their own brands and constructed distilleries. This was like drinking limoncello with a hint of ash and agave. Not the most interesting mezcal, but thoroughly enjoyable, especially for the price. Pelotón de la Muerte Espadin has notes of kiwi fruit, lemon zest, dried peppercorn, agave, and soft smoke.

This redirects the plant growth into the central stalk, swelling it into a large bulbous shape that contains a sweet juicy pulp. When the swelling is completed, the campesino cuts the plant from its roots and removes the long sword-shaped leaves, using a razor-sharp pike-like tool called a coa. The remaining piña (“pineapple”—so-called because the cross-thatched denuded bulb resembles a giant green and white pineapple) weighs anywhere from 25 to 100 pounds. To make ancestral mezcal, the distillation must include the fibre of the agave, not just the juice. The distillation can only be done in traditional wood-fired clay pot stills.

Mezcals To Try Now

I first tried mezcal at the New York Food and Wine Festival last year… and I so enjoyed it! The flavor reminds me of a combination of scotch and tequila, both of which I adore. But mostly mezcal is meant to be enjoyed straight up.

As a result, Mexican mezcal producers are not subject to the stringent regulations that govern the production of tequila. Much more familiar to all of us, tequila needs little introduction or explanation. One of the main differences here is that tequila can only be made from blue agave – similar to how single malt scotch can only be made from malted barley. It’s also mostly produced in Jalisco, where the town of Tequila is located, naturally. In terms of production, the agave piñas are still used to make the spirit, but the cooking process is much different.

And the excellent Añejo Gran Reserva launched this year, aged for two years in American and French oak barrels, then blended with some extra añejo tequila that spent six years in American oak. If you want to visit the distillery, you can stay at the Casa Salles Hotel Boutique just next door. Herradura Silver is unique among white, or blanco, tequilas. Not aged as long as a reposado, Herradura still has some of the wood-derived flavors reposados are known for.

For mezcal, the sugars in the liquid are allowed to ferment in wooden vats, prompted by airborne—not cultured—yeast. Distillation is usually fueled by wood in a small pot still, sometimes made of clay. The majority of mezcal is still consumed locally, often as part of celebrations or rituals, from weddings to baptisms to funerals.

This brand also got a recent facelift, with new packaging design for the entire lineup. The tequila comes in four expressions, which are each a bit pricey, but with quality to match. From the spicy and fragrant blanco to the rich and buttery extra añejo, which spends two years in American oak, these are tequilas worth tasting. No additives are used in the production of Pasote, and the agave is crushed with a mechanical tahona that acts like a steamroller and is lovingly called “Frankenstein” by the team at the Destileria El Pandillo. Speaking of the team, master distiller Felipe Camarena is an industry veteran who’s also known for making brands like G4 and Terralta.

And getting the drinking done quickly, rather than savoring it, is also a priority. Before learning distillation techniques, locals were drinking fermented agave – sort of like agave beer but thick and milky – one popular variety you can find in Mexico still today is “pulque”. It was a simple step to move from drinking pulque to distilling pulque-like beverages.

Where Does Tequila And Mezcal Come From In Mexico?

Combine it with our Jalapeño Margarita to make a smoky and spicy variation. All you have to do is add 3 to 4 jalapeno pepper slices to the cocktail shaker how often to give cbd gummies when you’re mixing the drink. It adds a forward bit of heat that really compliments the smoke. So, Alex and I decided to go halfsies with this recipe.

Some of the producers have adopted a production processes similar to tequila. Hence, these mezcals taste quite similar to tequila. There are a variety of different alcoholic beverages that can be consumed including beer, wine, champagne, and distilled spirits, or hard liquors such as vodka, whiskey, gin, rum, scotch, etc. However, each drink differs in terms of flavor, appearance, process of making etc.

The other brands we import include a number of Silvers, Reposados and Anejos. The brands are Embajador, Mistico, Oro de Oaxaca, Tehuana, Don Juan Escobar, Don Ausencio ++. Anejo Mezcals will be harder to find in the next few years because all of the producers have to start over again, aging in certified barrels.

Over the centuries lots of half-truths, myths, and tall tales have emerged about tequila. And while we’re at it, we’ll confirm some of the true-facts that make Can delta 8 cause nausea? tequila,tequila. These outsiders, the document recommended, would instead have to label their products with the broad Aztecan – and very obscure – term komil.

The mezcal is then either bottled or transferred to a container to mature. More notes on that were in the previous section above. When tasting a mezcal, you should take a drop of mezcal first and rub it on your palm. It should release the scent of smokey agave, any other smells or chemicals could suggest it is not a pure, natural Mezcal. The official version is, Mezcal was first produced after Spanish colonization.

With aging that usually does not exceed 2 months, blanco tequila can be crisp and clean when well done, such as the Casamigos Blanco. I hope your doubts about these emblematic Mexican beverages have been cleared up and if you know any other differences or similarities, please share them with us. Bottle of ComitecoProduced from the maguey comiteco, a type of agave native to Comitán de Domínguez, the fourth largest city in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state. As you can imagine, the taste of this spirit is very sweet; this is because the molasses resulting from cooking the cane makes it possible to elaborate.

The mezcal is light and very vegetal with a nose of lemon and green pepper, followed by citrus, roasted fig and basil on the palate. The drinking experience with Del Maguey is authentic — as is the brand’s process. They use 100% organic agave and follow ancient distillation processes. Each type of Del Maguey is named after the Oaxacan village where it’s made, with this Chichicapa celebrating its namesake village that sits 6,000 feet above sea level. No matter where it comes from or what it’s made of, you can count on mezcal to pack a punch – be it extra smokey, tart, spicy or herbal.

“Mixto” is typically seen as lesser-than as a result. Typically they are cooked in an underground, earthen pit, lined with volcanic rock, on a wood fire. This underground oven smokes, cooks and caramelizes the piña over a multi-day cooking process, imparting the mezcal with its unique smoky flavor. Everybody loves margaritas, but a lot of them aren’t all that great. Bad tequila and gross sour mix can make this fantastic cocktail sink to levels of mediocrity untold.